Sr. Product Owner (Hybrid)

At Selective, we don't just insure uniquely, we employ uniqueness.

Selective is a midsized U.S. domestic property and casualty insurance company with a history of strong, consistent financial performance for nearly 100 years. Selective's unique position as both a leading insurance group and an employer of choice is recognized in a wide variety of awards and honors, including listing in Forbes Best Midsize Employers in 2024 and certification as a Great Place to Work in 2024 for the fifth consecutive year.

Employees are empowered and encouraged to Be Uniquely You by being their true, unique selves and contributing their diverse talents, experiences, and perspectives to our shared success. Together, we are a high-performing team working to serve our customers responsibly by helping to mitigate loss, keep them safe, and restore their lives and businesses after an insured loss occurs.

Note: (For NJ candidates) This role will be located at our future headquarters in Short Hills, N.J. Until the new headquarters is operational, the successful candidate will be offered the ability to work in our Branchville, N.J. location during this interim period.

The Senior Product Owner is a product champion and key leader accountable for business value and outcomes, building a product mindset, and driving end-to-end delivery of complex, strategic imperatives across agile development teams. A strategic thinker with a knack for execution, this individual distills product vision and strategy into actionable plans and ensures ongoing delivery of measurable value. The Senior Product Owner is a passionate user advocate and proxy, engaging with internal and external customers to understand needs and experiences and represent these in the shaping and evolution of products. As a true business partner, the Senior Product Owner collaborates with team members, product and program leaders, end users, customers, and other stakeholders in prioritizing and refining content, managing dependencies, measuring team and product outcomes, demonstrating impactful business value, and enabling meaningful continuous improvement.

• Effectively synthesizes and translates product and program strategies and vision into actionable delivery plans for multiple agile development teams.
• Accountable for end to end value delivery and outcomes at the team level, collaborating with product leaders, IT partners, business leaders, and stakeholders to ensure teams are building the right thing at the right time.
• Acts as a customer advocate and proxy, engaging with internal and external customers to understand needs, optimize feedback mechanisms, and incorporate outcomes in product scope and design.
• Conducts and participates in market and competitive research efforts, introducing applicable findings in development of product initiatives.
• Collects, refines, and analyzes relevant data for informed decision making. Employs an economic view, assessing cost, benefit, and business value in determination of team priorities.
• Cultivates a product mindset, ensuring team-level understanding and alignment with product strategy throughout development and innovation activities, navigating ambiguity, and embracing change.
• Owns, manages, and regularly prioritizes user story backlogs. Refines features and user stories in collaboration with the Product Manager and Business Analysts
• Leads demonstration of business value and guides multiple teams through agile ceremonies, program planning, defect remediation, and continuous improvement activities.
• Proactively manages team-level dependencies, adapting delivery plans and communicating impacts as appropriate.
• Collaboratively manages measurement and tracking of outcomes and status reporting at the team level.

Knowledge and Requirements

* Advanced understanding of the P&C insurance industry, product line or domain and aptitude for continued learning
* Advanced collaborative and stakeholder management aptitude; appreciation for diverse perspectives
* High proficiency in customer and user engagement
* High proficiency in market and competitive research
* Advanced problem-solving capability, Intellectual curiosity, and development-focused mindset
* High proficiency in data collection and analysis and ability to apply in effective decision-making
* Comfort and aptitude in navigating ambiguity
* Elevated ability to effectively operate at both strategic and tactical levels
* Advanced understanding of and experience with product and software development lifecycles
* Strong knowledge of and practical experience with writing and refining agile requirements
* Advanced knowledge of and practical experience with agile methodologies and tooling
* Experience and comfort working with regulated products
* Highly proficient written and verbal communication skills

Education and Experience

College degree preferred
5+ years of business analysis experience
5+ years of experience in insurance line of business role
Demonstrated success in leading projects from inception to delivery

Selective Insurance offers a total rewards package that includes a competitive base salary, incentive plan eligibility at all levels, and a wide array of benefits designed to help you and your family stay healthy, achieve your financial goals, and balance the demands of your work and personal life. These benefits include comprehensive health care plans, retirement savings plan with company match, discounted Employee Stock Purchase Program, tuition assistance and reimbursement programs, and paid time off plans. Additional details about our total rewards package will be provided during the recruiting process.

The actual base salary is based on geographic location, and the range is representative of salaries for this role throughout Selective's footprint. Additional considerations include relevant education, qualifications, experience, skills, performance, and business needs.

Selective is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. That means we respect and value every individual's unique opinions, beliefs, abilities, and perspectives. We are committed to promoting a welcoming culture that celebrates diverse talent, individual identity, different points of view and experiences - and empowers employees to contribute new ideas that support our continued and growing success. Building a highly engaged team is one of our core strategic imperatives, which we believe is enhanced by diversity, equity, and inclusion. We expect and encourage all employees and all of our business partners to embrace, practice, and monitor the attitudes, values, and goals of acceptance; address biases; and foster diversity of viewpoints and opinions.